All posts tagged Festival Supreme

There are plenty of music festivals that dabble in comedy, and vice versa. This weekend’s Festival Supreme balances both worlds, and in a grandiose fashion (hence the name) that one would expect of an event curated by Jack Black and Kyle Gass of mock-rock band Tenacious D.

On Saturday, at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles, comedy acts like Cheech and Chong, Workaholics, and the State share the bill with music acts (with an absurdist streak) like Dethklok, Eagles of Death Metal and Peaches. There are stand-ups such as Nick Kroll and Margaret Cho and, why not, some TV shows in live form, including “Drunk History” and Scott Aukerman’s “Comedy Bang! Bang!” It being Halloween week, it’s all wrapped up in a spooky theme that includes a Circus of Death sideshow, which Black describes as “Disneyland exploding out of Salvador Dali’s brain, if you will.” Read More »

Tenacious D has been threatening for years to put together a comedy festival, now they’ve finally done it: Jack Black and Kyle Gass are curating Festival Supreme, a one-day extravaganza happening Oct. 19 in Santa Monica, Calif., with a lineup that includes Zach Galifianakis, Adam Sandler, Tig Notaro, Sarah Silverman and, of course, Tenacious D.

Although there’s a musical component to Festival Supreme — in addition to Tenacious D, Galifianakis plays piano, Silverman has been known to sing and the lineup also features musical comics including Fred Armisen, Eric Idle of “Monty Python,” Neil Hamburger Band, Maya Rudolph’s Prince cover band Princess and the duo Tim and Eric — Black and Gass wanted humor foremost.

A pre-sale for for Festival Supreme begins June 12 at 1 p.m. Eastern (the password is “Supreme”); tickets go on sale to the general public June 14 at 1 p.m. Eastern through Ticketmaster. They cost $99 for general admission, and $250 for VIP, plus fees.

For more information and the complete lineup, visit the Festival Supreme website. Well, maybe not the complete lineup.

“There will be some special secret guests that are not on the list that I can’t mention,” Black said. “Because then they wouldn’t be secret.” Read More »

Two weeks ago, actress and singer Patti LuPone grabbed a cell phone out of the hand of an audience member who was texting during a performance of her current play, "Shows for Days." The bold move led to an outpouring of support from fans fed up with glowing screens. Ms. LuPone gives us her five rules of theater etiquette.